Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media report them inadequately. We blog here because our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, New York, Madrid, London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening and why. This ongoing war is killing us.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

29-Oct-14: Could an opinion editor at the NYTimes have blown their cover?

Matt Seaton was a comment editor at The Guardian for seven years before leaving (in a kind of job swap) to do a similar job at the New York Times. In that role, he proudly announced an op ed today with (in our opinion) a bitter and twisted view of the lives lived in Israel by Arabs.

It's not so common for the facade to be dropped as Seaton of the NYTimes did today. You would think that management at the great metropolitan newspaper would want to clear up any possible misunderstandings. Their objectivity in the reporting of Middle East events is right at the top of the list that keeps many of its readers subscribing. But no, no clarifying statements have issued forth from them so far,

And if - as we think Seaton's slip confirms - they are not being objective at all, does anyone imagine the NY Times is the only mainstream news source that is okay with holding the Palestinian Arabs - for whatever idiotic, artificial or imagined reason - to a lower standard [here, for instance] when it comes to matters of racist hatred, malice and prejudice?

1 comment:

The NYT, I suspect, is operating according to a set of editorial guidelines that are based on an misinterpretation of the following two principles:

1. The role of the public intellectual (e.g. NYT editors) is to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.

2. The superior virtue of the oppressed.

If they take it as a given that the Palestinians are the afflicted, the oppressed, then everything else flows from there. They will do everything in their power as purveyors of news and opinions to persuade theirreaders that Israelis, the "comfortable" in their view, needs to be afflicted, badgered, maligned even, in the service of comforting poor Palestinians.

Now there is a problem. If the afflicted are, as per definition, superior in virtue, then this needs to be somehow conveyed. But what do you do when the Palestinians are really obviously and declaratively NOT virtuous? There is only one way to continue the charade of this false asymmetry: you have to file reports and opinion pieces that cast Israel in the worst possible light and you keep quiet about Palestinian perfidy, violence, irrationality, deceptiveness, etc. Because to do otherwise is to provide comfort to Israel, the "comfortable" state whose citizens are practically persecuted by the regional Arabs wherever they are, Jebreal's article being part of this general mood of anti-Jewish animus.

All this comes from having excess pity for the "underdog". It's the principle that guided Robespierre, according to Hannah Arendt: Because of our pity and to better serve humanity, we must be pity-less.

So the NYT has no pity for beleaguered Israelis, only exclusive pity towards Palestinians. This is a perversion of everything that has to do with justice, objectivity, ethics, and peace. Because justice is like light, falling where it falls. When you deliberately deny light to a group of people you are only augmenting the misery of all.

You'd think the NYT editors would be aware of such basic journalistic ethics.

We're asking you to help

Click the image for more

Search this blog

About us

THIS ONGOING WAR is not part of the activity of the Malki Foundation which was founded by us, Frimet and Arnold Roth of Jerusalem, on September 9, 2001. But it is inspired by the same tragic circumstances. The Malki Foundation (also known by its Hebrew name: Keren Malki) is a memorial to the life of our daughter, Malki. She's in the photo below this paragraph. Malki was murdered at the age of 15 in a massacre in the centre of Jerusalem carried out by Hamas.

Beyond its function as a remembrance of a beautiful life, the foundation provides tangible, concrete, invaluable support daily to several thousand Israeli families from every part of the religious and socio-economic spectrum: Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Druze and others who care at home for a seriously disabled child.

So Wrong
-
June 28, 2017 At a recent gay-pride march in Chicago, organizers asked a
number of women to leave because they were carrying Jewish Pride flags. The
flag—a...

2 months ago

Good for the soul | The Malki Foundation

If you care to make a positive and constructive contribution to the care of Israeli children with special needs - whether they're Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Druze or unconnected to any particular faith community - you can't do better than direct your donation to the work of the Malki Foundation.

It's the charitable organization we, the bloggers who produce This Ongoing War, established in 2001 in memory of our murdered daughter. Her name is Malki.

Keren Malki (in Hebrew, Keren means 'foundation' or 'fund') is efficient, effective, non-sectarian, non-political and unique in the good work it does. Thousands of families from every part of our richly diverse society here in Israel have benefited in concrete and meaningful ways. Donations to Keren Malki are tax-effective in Israel, Canada, UK and the United States.

Fair use notice

This blog may contain copyrighted material that may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material, published without profit, is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues. It is published in accordance with the provisions of Israel's 2007 Copyright Law, the US Copyright Act of 1976, the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ruling and similar laws in other jurisdictions.

This Ongoing War: About this blog

Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media often report them inadequately. Our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, in New York, in Madrid, in London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening. This ongoing war is killing us.